Max Verstappen puzzled by Lewis Hamilton crash woes as he aims ‘generation’ jibe at rival | F1 | Sports

Two-time world champion Max Verstappen has admitted that he is puzzled why himself and Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton have collided so many times. The 25-year-old believes that it might be down to their different generations.

Dutch driver Verstappen was locked in an intense championship battle with Hamilton in 2021, which saw the rivals collide at Silverstone and Monza before the Dutch driver controversially won the world title at the final race in Abu Dhabi. In 2022, Hamilton’s Mercedes lacked the consistency of his rival’s Red Bull resulting in less battles, but the pair again touched at the Brazilian Grand Prix damaging both of their cars.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, the Dutch world champion admitted he ‘doesn’t understand’ why the rivals have crashed so many times. “I have to be careful what I’m saying here,” Verstappen said. “But with everyone I’ve been fighting, it’s been really hard, aggressive battles and we never really came together.

“Somehow, with Lewis (Hamilton), it’s a different story. And I honestly don’t understand. Like, this year, okay we haven’t really had a lot of battles. But Brazil we got together. It wasn’t my intention (that we crashed). I got the blame for it, which I didn’t find fair. If it would’ve been more of a racing incident, that I could live with.”

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“Because the day before with George (Russell), we were having an incredible battle (in the sprint race at Sao Paulo) – closing the door, defending, out-braking each other. That was a lot of fun and I was trying to do the same in the main race (against Hamilton), having that kind of battle. But, unfortunately, we couldn’t get it to work.”

Verstappen could again face a world title challenge from Hamilton if Mercedes can match the pace of Red Bull next season. The Dutch driver added that he ‘respects’ his Mercedes rival for what he has achieved in the sport and said that all drivers had a different approach to racing.